Max Steel: Scarred for Life
by Willowfree Dragonai
Summary: After a fight with Extroyer, two weeks after the defeat of Makino, Max Steel is severely injured and put in a coma. When he wakes up, what's going to happed next? Will Sydney and Kirby find out the truth? And what will happen in school?
1. i Extroyer

I had done it! I had finally created a poison that could penetrate Max Steel's armor! All I had to do was shift into my tiger form and have the stupid brutes that were my minions attach the tiny vials of acid to the bottom of my claws. Then, it was showtime.

"Come on," I growled at my two minions.

"Yes, sir," the rather lanky one squeaked. I sighed in exasperation. They were _hopeless_. But whatever. They got the job done...well at least _most_ of the time.

I snarled at them in irritation. "Just hurry up and get ready to attach the poison. This time I shall get him. _This time!_ " I cackled and stalked out the door, my minions following close behind. _Hmm…_ I mused to myself. _Perhaps I will give them new names. The lanky one is Twig, and the burly one is Ugly. Yes, that will do quite nicely._

I was jolted out of my thoughts once I noticed we had reached the center of the park. Looking around me and seeing several civilians going about their business, whether it was taking a jog, sharing a picnic, or sitting on a bench. Slinking out of the shadows I turned into the tiger. It was my favorite so far, I honestly _hated_ being a bug.

The minions, Twig and Ugly, had already attached the canisters, and I was ready to kill Max Steel. The vials seemed tiny, but in reality held almost a liter each.

I was in the clearing and people started pointing towards me, screaming, yelling, and fleeing. I found my first target.

A man was trying to help a woman get to safety. It was hard because she kept tripping in her heels. I prowled towards them, growling.

The woman shrieked in fear and cowered behind the man. He was standing protectively in front of her, his arms stretched wide.

"Run, Laura!" He shouted at her. She did, giving me a fearful glance. I didn't stop her. I only wanted the man. My prey.

"Ah, such loyalty." I drawled as I licked my chops. "Even more delicious to taste."

The man in question looked at me in pure fear, and he knew he was going to die. I laughed mirthlessly.

He looked to be in his forties, a little chewy but tasty nonetheless.

Since I loved teasing my prey, I slowly stalked towards him with a menacing snarl. He backed up against a tree and whimpered. I took out my claws, ready to strike, but a fast moving figure scooped him up at the last moment and swiftly sped him away to safety. The clearing and all around it were empty. Now it was only the true target standing before me, my ultimate prey.

" _Max Steel_."


	2. ii Max Steel

"You know, Jefferson, one day I will find out where that food goes. In fact, I should put a tiny camera on one of your sandwiches!" Berto exclaimed as he watched Jefferson eat his fourth sandwich in a row. Jefferson merely shrugged and continued shoving down the tasty treat.

I nearly keeled over, I was laughing so hard. Berto's face was just unbelievably funny.

Berto fumed as he said, "One day, Jefferson. One day!" Then he stalked out of the room muttering incoherent Spanish words.

Jefferson just raised an eyebrow at Berto's outburst. I walked out of the room, still laughing and wiping a tear from my eye with Steel beside me.

"Max, we should head to the date with Sydn-" Steel was cut short when a huge alarm rang.

"Extroyer has just been seen terrorizing civilians in Copper Canyon park!" Forge's voice boomed through the loudspeakers. "Max, Steel, get the the park immediately. The rest of you, head to the scene in the jets and prepare to apprehend and arrest him. Go!"

I turned to Steel. "Flight mode?" I ask.

"You didn't even have to ask." Steel responded, and I took his answer.

"GO TURBO: FLIGHT!" I yelled and the energy around me shifted and the molecules shifted and rearranged to form the flight suit with the jet-like wings and visor. It all happened at the speed of light. I still loved watching that, even when we've been doing this for a long time.

As we flew towards the park at top speed, I talked to Steel. "Aren't you kinda glad that we've found Extroyer? I mean, I know he's evil and all, but I'm glad to know that know we can take him down and out him in prison. And I know that we've defeated Makino recently, but there are still baddies like him and rouge ultralinks out to destroy us."

Steel made a whirring noise of agreement and said, "I know, it's nice to have a break, but let's face it, we don't truly _get_ a break. Though right now, ultralinks that escaped after Makino's defeat are almost all in containment. The only real threat now is Extroyer."

I sighed. My buddy was right.

"Steel, over there!" I whisper yelled to my partner. Extroyer was stalking towards a middle-aged man, and getting closer.

"GO TURBO: SPEED!" I yelled and touched down, doing a roll.

I sped towards the man, and just as Extroyed raised a claw to deliver the killing blow, I picked him up deposited him somewhere far away from Extroyer and the danger. I ran back to Extroyer and glared at him through the mask. His tiger expression was of pure hate and loathing.

" _Max Steel."_


	3. iii Max Steel

"So, you ready to get pummeled?" I taunted him, cracking my knuckles.

"If so, you are about to be rewarded." Steel said. I smirked.

"GO TURBO: STRENGTH!"

Charging at him I raised my fist in the air, ready to strike. At the last second, Extroyer jumped out of the way, making my fist momentarily stuck into the ground.

While I was pulling it out, Extroyer sprang onto my back, pushing me down.

"Not today, Max Steel," he taunted. I tried to shake him off, succeeding and delivering a heavy blow to his jaw. He backed away for a second, growling.

"GO TURBO: SPEED!" I yelled and as soon as the transformation was complete, I started running around Extroyer in fast circles, attempting to confuse him and create a small twister to contain him long enough.

As I was starting to get enough wind going, a huge paw came out of nowhere and knocked me into a tree. I coughed hard for a few seconds trying to catch my breath.

It was hard to get up, I think I might have broken something. "Steel," I wheezed painfully. "Is there anything broken?"

Steel's reply was a little hesitant. "Yes, but don't worry, the steel suit's already working on it. You can fight and it won't damage you further."

"Great," I said. "Let's so thi-" I was cut off when I felt claws grab onto my chest and push me harshly to the ground, knocking me back into the default base mode.

"It's over," Extroyer snarled in my face. Then he slowly raised his paw with his deadly claws out over my chest. I wasn't too worried, the steel suit was designed to be able to withstand things like claws and knives.

Then he suddenly brought down him claw with as much force as he could and ripped open the suit, cutting deep into my chest.

I screamed in agony, writhing on the ground. It felt like acid was eating away at my skin before it stopped. I was still screaming. It was like the worst pain I had ever experienced times a hundred.

Extroyer growled in victory as I bled out. Then he brought one claw and tore through my helmet, digging deep into my face. I could feel a line of white hot pain going from above my left eye to below my chin. It hurt almost worse than my chest wound, though I could at least tell that it didn't damage my eye in any way.

Then, Extroyer stepped on my chest and I gasped for breath, it was suddenly hard to breathe.

"You're at the end of the line, Max Steel." Extroyer taunted.

"Not..yet," I replied. And out of pure agony, I found it within myself to create a huge ball of crackling blue TURBO energy. I launched it at him with all the strength I had left and saw him collapse under the energy several feet away.

Feeling too weak to even move, I succumbed to the pain and darkness, drifting into the black abyss, just after noticing a N-tech jet land near me. I was already gone.


	4. iv Narrator

The large jets belonging to N-tech slowly landed on the ground, and Commander Ferris quickly saw that Extroyer was in a deep crater, unconscious. After sending a team of ten specialized agents to secure Extroyer's large form, he then looked for Max.

 _That's strange,_ Forge thought. _He should be with us, celebrating right now._ Then he saw something that made his heart miss a couple beats.

It was Max's limp body, the steel suit ripped up and blood still pouring out. He froze, shocked.

"Commander?" Berto questioned, he didn't know why Forge looked so shocked. Then Berto saw what his commander was looking at. "Oh my god." He exclaimed.

Berto ran over as fast as he could to Max, Forge getting out of his stupor and following close behind. "Medic! Medic get over here!" Berto yelled at the top of his lungs.

He checked Max's pulse, trembling. It was there, but faint and ragged. His breathing was even worse. It looked like every breath hurt him, and it was coming in short, sudden gasps. _Signs of a collapsed lung,_ Berto thought.

Two medics came rushing over, a stretcher between them, and Jefferson and Kat were close behind.  
"Berto, what happened?" Kat asked upon seeing Max's body.

"I don't know for sure, the steel suit shouldn't have been able to be torn open like this. I think that he has at least a partially collapsed lung."

For once, Jefferson wasn't eating anything and fully focused on the situation.

Then Forge spoke up. "We need to get Max back to N-tech as soon as humanly possible." He said. "Get him in one of the jets."

The two medics carefully raised Max up onto the stretcher. Max groaned, reacting to the movement, then went completely limp again. One of the medics surveyed the damage done.

"He'll need a lot of stitches to his chest and face. We were lucky Extroyer didn't hit any organs or important muscles and tissue. He also didn't damage Max's eye, so he'll still be able to see fine out of it once he's recovered. The steel suit is too damaged, though. Once we get back to base, we'll need to remove it completely." The medic told the horror stricken team of four.

Commander Ferris nodded his agreement. "Do whatever you need to do."

The medics quickly raised the stretcher after getting Max safely secure. They then proceeded to push Max gently to the jet, careful not to jolt him too much.

Once Max was loaded into the medical bay of the jet, the medics hooked Max up to an IV, heart monitor, and made sure he was as stable as they would get him.

Within minutes, they got to the base, traveling at top speeds. The two medics wheeled Max Steel through N-tech, followed closely by Forge, Berto, Jefferson, and Kat. Molly, Max's mother, was on her way, just hearing that Max was hurt while fighting Extroyer.

Once the two medics got Max into the med bay, they handed him off to Dr. Robertson, the best doctor there.

"Oh my," he said as he looked at Max's battered form. He, with the help of two nurses, moved Max to a hospital bed, preparing him for the stitches.

He started with getting the pieces of the steel suit off. Prying the helmet and chest plate off first, the rest slipped right off. Dr. Robinson made sure to do this as carefully as possible.

Now, all that was left on Max was his white and grey t-shirt and jeans. Dr. Robinson slowly took off Max's torn and bloodied shirt.

After that, the doctor carefully inspected Max's chest wounds. There were three deep diagonal scratches going from his left shoulder to right hip. Wiping away the blood from around the wounds on both his chest and face, he cleaned the scratches thoroughly. He then numbed the areas he was going to stitch, even though he was still unconscious.

Soon Max was ready. He got out the dissolving thread and medical needle and started carefully stitching up the wounds.

About thirty minutes later, he finished the stitches, cleaning up the operated area. The skin was still red and raw, but the blood flow had stopped completely and Max was more stable now.

Getting Max to a hospital bed, he attached a new IV and reattached the heart monitor to Max. The doctor then went on to add more monitors to Max, and did a thorough check of his lungs.

He frowned to himself when the scans were complete. Max's lungs had in fact partially collapsed, and while it would heal in time, he needed an oxygen mask and breathing help for a while, maybe six to seven months at least, nine to ten at most.

That was the worst thing Dr. Robertson could see so far, but another check of Max's systems confirmed more of his fears.

Max Steel was comatose.

Once the doctor was done making sure Max was hooked up to all the right machines and a nurse was assigned to watch over Max for any developments, he headed to Forge's office, where Forge, Molly, Berto, Jefferson, and Kat were waiting for him.

"How's Max?" Molly asked him, she still had not been told the extent of Max's injuries. It would most likely break her heart to hear how bad of a condition Max was in.

"For now, Max is stable, though he is comatose. His lungs have partially collapsed, so he will need help breathing for up to ten months. It depends on how fast his body heals. The wounds on his chest didn't hit any important organs, muscle, or tissue. The scratch on his face didn't damage his eye in any way, thankfully." The doctor told the five of them. Molly was shocked and fearful for her son.

"Thank you, doctor, you may go. Please tell us if there are any developments." Forge ordered after a couple minutes of silence.

Some were still trying to process the information. Finally Jefferson spoke up. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that Max's steel suit couldn't be cut through?"

Berto answered him. "I ran a scan of the damaged parts of the steel suit that Dr. Robertson gave me, and it looks as if a very strong acid cut through the suit and deep into the skin. It also looked like it was made just for the purpose of Max, so I can't trace where it was made. We do know that Extroyer had it, though. It was on his claws when he tore into Max. And after analyzing Steel's condition, it seems like Steel is in some sort of hibernation, though he's still keeping Max's TURBO energy levels safe. My theory is that he'll come out of his state of hibernation when Max wakes up from his coma." Berto finished, explaining the information he had gathered.

"Thanks, Berto. Everyone should get some rest." Forge said. "You too, Molly." He said before she could protest. "You had a long day at work, and I promise I'll call you if there are any updates."

"Okay, bye," Molly said as she left.

Three more "byes" chorused as Berto, Jefferson, and Kat left Forge's office. They all hoped with all their might that Max would wake up soon. None of them knew or expected that it would be three long and hard months until Max woke up from his coma.


	5. v Max Steel

Cold. That's all I felt. There was no warmth, no comfort. Just a cold, black abyss of nothingness.

Then I felt a presence. _Steel,_ part of me recognized.

:: Max? Max, it's time to wake up. :: Steel said. I didn't want to stay here, so I agreed.

:: What do I need to do to get out of here? :: I asked Steel.

:: Just think about the real world. Molly, Forge, and Berto. You know, everyone you care about. ::

:: Okay, :: I replied. Then I thought about everyone I cared about and loved. Mom and Sydney, Forge and Berto, Kat and Jefferson, Kirby and Butch. I needed to get back to them. I needed them.

Slowly I started to realize that I was lying on a bed. There was an excruciating pain on both my chest and face, and I wanted to scream, but I found that I couldn't make a noise. I then felt a weight on my face, not heavy but I knew it was there. I guessed it was a breathing mask.

I tried to open my eyes, begged and demanded my brain to open them but to no prevail. I could twitch my finger just a little bit, though. But after that, I was exhausted, and was about to sink into darkness again. Before I did though, I heard a machine beep and someone rush over.

"Max?" Someone asked. "Max, can you hear me? Move your finger if you can."

Right before I was gone again, I managed to twitch my finger one more time. But then I was in the abyss again.

Maybe it was only hours before I woke back up, or maybe it was days. This time my chest didn't hurt as much, and I could feel something, maybe a brace, stationed over my lungs. It was very lightweight, and it felt like it almost wasn't there.

The machine beeped again, and this time my eyes opened a fraction of an inch. My voice croaked out a "Hello?", and someone came rushing over. It was Berto, and he looked excited.

"Max? Max, you're awake!" Berto yelled in joy, and pressed a button on one of the other machines close to him. Almost immediately, Mom, Uncle Forge, Jefferson, and Kat came rushing into the room.

"Max, how are you feeling?" Berto asked me.

"My..chest hurts," I managed to choke out. I sounded hoarse and I could tell my voice was filled with pain, I could feel it, too. It hurt a lot when I tried to talk.

"Does it hurt to speak?" Mom asked with concern. I nodded my head faintly. I was starting to get exhausted, and I knew that soon I would pass out again.

Berto seemed to sense this and told the rest, "I think that Max needs to get some rest."

They all nodded. "You get better, alright?" Forge said.

"Just rest, sweetie." Mom told me.

"Okay," I replied with some difficulty. Then I let it pit of darkness swallow me once more.

The next time I woke up wasn't that great. As I opened my eyes and adjusted to the bright light of the room I was in, the machine started beeping rapidly and I felt white hot pain flaring in my lungs, and it hurt to breathe. I started thrashing around, trying to get my voice to work so that I could yell for help.

Suddenly, a nurse barged in the room, took one look at me, and pressed a button on a machine near her. She then prepared what I guessed was a sedative, and injected it into me.

Slowly, I stopped thrashing and felt my muscles go slack. My chest still hurt a lot, but now I was a bit calmer.

Soon, a couple of people rushed in. Berto, Uncle Forge, and a doctor I didn't recognize. The doctor looked at one of the screens that monitored my lungs and paled.

"Max, one of your lungs has just collapsed more. We need to get you into a stronger brace for now, and I need you to be awake during it. Do you understand?" The doctor asked me.

I nodded, even though pools of dread were filling up in my stomach. From the way that he talked, I was almost completely sure this was going to hurt. A lot.

As the doctor prepared a new brace, Berto and Uncle Forge each took one of my hands.

"Hermano, this is going to hurt, but we need you to try to stay conscious, alright?" Berto asked me with a soothing tone. I nodded, even though my chest was really hurting now, I couldn't imagine what more pain would feel like.

"The brace is ready. Max, you ready?" The doctor asked me, holding the brace they were about to put on me. It was black and bigger than the one currently on me, and had a lot of screws and levers that I guessed were for tightening it in the parts it needed to be.

I took a deep breath, well as much of a deep breath I could since it was still hard to breathe.

The doctor slowly took off the old brace, and I shivered unintentionally when cool air hit my torso. I shouldn't have. That sent hot flares of pain racing through my body.

Once the old brace was on a nearby table, the doctor picked up the new one and slid it on, not putting it on fully yet. Uncle Forge looked at me with sympathy, and I knew how much this was going to hurt.

As the doctor quickly tightened the straps, I gripped Uncle Forge and Berto's hands when I felt something inside me shift, and a sudden spasm of agony took over. It lasted less than three seconds, so soon I was limp again.

Then the doctor tightened it super fast, and once he was done, I writhed in pain again before my body went completely still, as I had slipped into the unforgiving blackness again.

After a few days, I finally opened my eyes again, and I felt a lot better. The scratches still burned like fire, but I forced myself to get used to it. I guessed that this was going to just be a part of life from now on.

I felt someone exit from my chest. "Steel!" I exclaimed happily, but it still hurt to talk, and my voice was hoarse and sore like before.

"No, no, no, Max." Steel said sternly to me. I shrank back a little, confused and a bit hurt. Steel saw this and felt it so he quickly said, "I know that talking is hard for you, so for a while, I'm going to talk for you. And before you go against it-" Steel said, holding his 'hand' up as I was about to speak. "I can hear what you think anyways, so it won't be a problem for me."

I contemplated it. :: Fine, but only if I say so and I physically can't speak at all. And thank you, :: I said to him through my thoughts.

:: No problem, :: Steel told me. :: But I'm glad you're finally fully awake. After last time, you were out for about three days. I should call Forge and tell him to get his butt down here! ::

I laughed mentally, a small though weak smile spreading across my face. :: Thanks Steel, :: I told him.

Steel just gave me a happy face and proceeded to call Forge.

"What do you wa- Steel!" Uncle Forge exclaimed. "Max is up for good?"

"Yup," Steel said happily. "You can see him yourself," Steel told him, letting Uncle Forge have a look at me. At the moment I was propped up on the bed, using some pillows for support.

"Max! This is great! Wait till I tell the rest about this!" And with that, Uncle Forge ran off, and Steel cut the connection.

:: Thanks, :: I told Steel.

:: No problemo, :: Steel replied.

Soon enough, Uncle Forge, Mom, Berto, Jefferson, and Kat were in the room with me. I smiled weakly and said, "Hi guys."

A moment later, the room erupted in cheers. I startled, shocked.

Mom came to my rescue. "We're just so happy you're awake, honey." She told me, kissing me lightly on the cheek and patting my arm. This time, I didn't mind.

Kat came over and scolded me. "Don't ever do that again!" She said fiercely. "You were in a coma for three months! Three months!" She yelled.

I froze. "Three months?" I asked quietly.

Kat froze. "I-uh, wasn't supposed to tell him that, was I?"

"It's alright. We were going to tell him soon anyways." Uncle Forge told her.

"Hermano, we were really scared that you were going to-you know.." Berto said tearfully.

I shook my head. "I'm pretty hard to kill, you know."

"But that doesn't mean you're invincible." Jefferson told me.

"I know," I replied, and faced all of them. "I'm really sorry I worried you."

"It wasn't in your control," Uncle Forge said. "Now, you're bedridden for at _least_ five days, and since today is Monday, next week I think you can go to school. No training or superhero stuff until you're _completely_ healed. Understand?"

I nodded, then thought about what he said. _Oh no,_ he realized. _School!_ "Umm.. Does the school know about, well, this?" He asked, pointing to himself.

Uncle Forge seemed hesitant. "No, but you can say that you were in an accident and had to recover."

I stared at him incredulously. "For three and a half months?"

Suddenly I felt a stronger flare of pain in my chest and I gasped, gripping the bed for support and screwing my eyes shut. Berto checked one of the screens and turned to me, smiling sympathetically.

"Max should get some rest now. His lungs are flaring up due to him talking a lot." Berto told everyone.

I nodded and laid back against the bed, closing my eyes. Soon the darkness swallowed me.

Over the course of the next five days, I woke up about three times and each time, the doctor from before asked me questions about how I was feeling. I learned his name was Dr. Robertson.

He told me about what happened when I was in a coma. I went into cardiac arrest two times, and they had to refit several braces. The good news was, my lungs should be healed completely within about seven months. Until then, I had to wear a very lightweight brace for my lungs. I didn't even notice it was there most of the time. You can't see it when I have a shirt and jacket on, too.

After the five days were up, on the sixth day, Saturday, they let me start walking around a bit.

"Max, just be careful. I'll be right behind you just in case." Uncle Forge told me gently. I nodded and pushed myself up.

I slowly swung my legs over the bed, and when I tried supporting myself, I cried out on pain as a wave of agony took over my body. I started to crumple to the ground, but Uncle Forge caught me and held me up. Black spots danced across my vision before I regained my footing and stood back up on my own.

"Thanks," I told Uncle Forge, walking around slowly. I looked at all the machines that were connected to me. Dr. Robertson had already taken everything off except for the IV, which had wheels so that it could roll around with me.

After a few wobbly steps, I got used to the pain and walked more surely. "So," I looked to Berto, thinking of something. "What happened to the steel suit? I mean, I know I can't do anything with it, but what happened?"

Berto looked a little hesitant. "I think Steel should tell you."

Steel rolled his eye and looked at me seriously. "The steel suit was well beyond repair, and it can take up to months for me to rebuild it. It will be a long process. But, you don't need it to contain your TURBO energy, since I will be linked up to you almost all of the time."

I nodded seriously. "So, on Monday it's back to school?"

Uncle Forge looked conflicted. "I don't want you to be doing things this soon after what happened," he said to me. "But I think it would be best."

"Okay," I said. "I think I'm going to sleep for a little bit." I told him, yawning.

Uncle Forge nodded at me. "Alright," he said, stretching and getting ready to leave the room. "Come on, Berto." Berto nodded and followed him out.

I sighed and went over to the bed, laying down. Steel relinked with me, and before I closed my eyes and fell asleep, I felt Dr. Robertson reattach the monitors.

Then I let sleep take me.


End file.
